At FedEx Field in Landover, Md., home of the Washington Redskins, fans had been lining up since late afternoon, to sit in the stands and watch the big video screen for the commissioner to walk across the stage in New York City and call out a name.

According to reports, the fans didn't even wait for Roger Goodell to call the name before they broke out into roars of delight. All Goodell had to call out, at 8:06 p.m. ET Thursday, was "Andrew Luck," the No. 1 pick, to the Indianapolis Colts.

That meant Robert Griffin III was that much closer to finally being theirs.

They got their wish three minutes later. Finally, fans of the once-proud, lately wretched favorites of the D.C. metropolitan area could celebrate, exhale, relax, and even ... hope.

That emotion fits, too. Among the many expressions of RG3 love on display all around the Washington area, inside the stadium and also inside Radio City Music Hall was a T-shirt patterned on the famous artistic rendition of Barack Obama and the slogan "Hope."

Of course, just as fitting was a Redskins jersey worn by another fan on-site at the draft, originally a Donovan McNabb—but adorned with the duct-taped names of a decade's worth of underwhelming and/or underperforming quarterbacks of recent vintage. Clever, but painful for anyone still hoping to forget the Danny Wuerffel era.

Still, it was a necessary reminder to all of what every member of the Redskins faithful is hoping to leave behind—and of what all fans of a city hurting for a taste of big-time sports success have been starved for.

The handful of skeptics who swore that the Redskins gave up too much to the St. Louis Rams to move up from sixth to second overall began to quiet as they start to imagine what Griffin could be, and what that could mean to the team that owns this town.

Basically, Griffin could be what McNabb was expected to be when Mike Shanahan arrived two years ago and grabbed him off the Eagles' scrap heap.

In a sense, Griffin is even being viewed as what Shanahan himself was expected to be: a savior. A name, a magnet, the first stone in the foundation of rebuilding that was so desperately needed. So far, Shanahan has been far from that.

Part of the reason: He miscalculated so badly on how much McNabb would be that. Or, depending on whom you believe, he miscalculated how he and McNabb were supposed to mesh, and subsequently, how his treatment of McNabb from then on would play among a fan base that thought McNabb deserved much, much better treatment.

If Shanahan's honeymoon isn't officially over after consecutive seasons with more total losses than overmatched predecessor Jim Zorn, it's only because RG3 has given the coach a new honeymoon.

Everybody has put their trust back into Shanahan after he and general manager Bruce Allen took the bold step to trade up for Griffin, to change the long-term losing pattern and switch up the culture of failure.

At the same time, the seat under Shanahan will never be hotter. If somehow Griffin fails to deliver on all the promise he brings to Washington, he will likely catch less of the blame than Shanahan.

Meanwhile, both Shanahan and Griffin surely know that their fate will drive the mood of D.C. far more than the other pro teams combined. The NHL's Capitals, MLB's Nationals and even the NBA's Wizards have shown glimpses of making turnarounds from collective headlong rushes in the wrong direction. Just the day before the draft, the Caps eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins from the playoffs; the Nats climbed to the best record in the National League, and the Wizards, owners of the second-worst record in the NBA, won their fifth consecutive game.

Each has a young cornerstone that, upon their arrival at least, filled the area with similar anticipation: respectively, Alex Ovechkin, Stephen Strasburg and John Wall.

They'd probably admit that from the moment the Redskins cut the deal last month for RG3's rights, they became a group of second bananas.

They probably also all know that no player is in position to rise as high or fall as hard as Griffin, because he's a Redskin and they're not.

The faithful, however, were allowing no space for negativity on this evening. They professed their love for RG3 and, at worst, extended Shanahan the benefit of the doubt.

And, soon after Griffin's name was called, the new savior spoke on NFL Network about how big were the expectations he has officially taken onto his shoulders.

"I understand that," he said, "but to whom much is given, much is expected, and I'll expect more from myself and my teammates than the fans will."